Henry Mouton, a Lafayette resident and former commissioner for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in New Orleans on bribery charges.
Henry Mouton, a Lafayette resident and former commissioner for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in New Orleans on bribery charges, according to The Times-Picayune. Mouton is accused of accepting half a million dollars in bribes from a landfill owner in exchange for helping keep a rival landfill closed. Mouton's alleged co-conspirator is not named in the indictment, but the T-P notes that the feds raided the Gretna offices of River Birch Inc., calling the raid "a clear indication that River Birch is a target of the federal probe."
Mouton is facing charges of conspiracy, receiving illegal payoffs and making false statements to federal agents. He is the brother of former Lafayette attorney F. Ray Mouton, who represented the Lafayette Diocese and pedophile priest Gilbert Gauthe against sex-abuse charges in the mid 1980s.
Coincidentally, Henry Mouton had a lunch meeting Friday on an unrelated matter with Independent Staff Writer Heather Miller and photographer Robin May. During that meeting former Gov. Mike Foster, who appointed Mouton a Wildlife and Fisheries commissioner, stopped by the table to greet Mouton.
When The Ind learned about the indictment about an hour later, Miller called Mouton for comment, and when she broached the topic of The Times-Pic article, Mouton said, "I have to go" and abruptly hung up. He has not answered subsequent calls.
Read more on the indictment here and view the indictment itself here.